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You may never have anticipated going through a divorce. You may have married with dreams of starting a family and living your life with your spouse in joy. However, a time came when perhaps your spouse announced that he or she was no longer happy in the marriage, or maybe you were the one experiencing the unhappiness. No matter the reason, you are now going through a divorce.

Because you are a parent, your main concern focuses on the well-being of your children. Even though unhappiness may have led to the end of your marriage, you still believe that you and your soon-to-be ex can get along well enough to continue parenting the children together. This view is becoming more common in Georgia and across the country, as is the co-parenting arrangement.

What does co-parenting involve?

Essentially, co-parenting allows both you and the other parent to continue playing active roles in your children’s lives. This type of arrangement often follows a joint custody agreement stemming from the child custody proceedings of your divorce case. Though this type of arrangement is typically best for the kids, you and your ex could still end up at odds. After all, you will each have individual time with the children but still need to make certain decisions together, which can be difficult.

If you do find yourself having a difficult time keeping up an effective co-parenting relationship, you may want to consider the following tips:

• Separate your personal feelings about your ex from the feelings your children have for your ex. It can sometimes be hard to see your children enjoy spending time with someone you no longer love, but allowing them that enjoyment can go a long way.
• Work as a team. It is common for one parent to feel as if he or she parents better than the other, but in a co-parenting relationship, it is best to try to work together as well as possible, even if that means setting up rules and boundaries.
• Find the communication method that works best for the two of you. You may have an amicable enough relationship that you can continue having in-person conversations, but if not, you may want to stick to emails and text messages and keep topics strictly about the children.

Any major life change takes time for adjustment. Having to let your children go spend time with your ex may seem challenging at first, but remembering that the relationships they have with the other parent are important may help the child custody transition go more smoothly.